The Phoenix Keeper by S. A. MacLean
Product details
Web ID: 19875957This is warm, feathered hug in a book and I adore
Cozy books can sometimes feel a bit like the same thing over and over if authors aren’t careful with how they approach the genre. The coffee shop, bookshop is done a lot, small town, etc. But a Zoo? This was a first and a delight. I can also confidently say though, if you’re not an animal nerd or a big lover of zoos you may not be into this. The Phoenix Keeper is a warm, cozy book about a zookeeper in a magical world who tends to the endangered Phoenix exhibit. She wants more than anything to help the population breed so she can care for these struggling animals. Alia is a hot mess of anxiety and almost debilitating shyness (at least for a zookeeper). In all honesty, I didn’t like her at first. I’m not a fan of ‘disaster’ type characters and she read initially as that. But the slow development of her character was clear and lovely, her story paced well and I absolutely loved everyone in this by the end. The threat of the book, illegal black market animal parts dealers, felt real enough while also just distant enough that book kept a good balance between cozy and tension. I adored the romance, I was cheering for these two from the second interaction though I had no idea how it was going to work and the icing on this cake? The animals. I would read more 500 page books about different zookeepers and different animals if S.A. MacLean decided to write more. 5/5, this was a book for me.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Magical Creatures Zoo + Parks & Rec Vibes
I really enjoyed the world that this story lives in. How spectacularly cool would it be to have a place to visit dragons, phoenix, and yes, even unicorns?? I really enjoyed the writing style and the voice of all the characters. Aila and Tanya have an awesome BFF dynamic that gave me Leslie Knope and Ann Perkins vibes. Aila did give me anxiety and the worst cases of second-hand awkward cringes just about every time she spoke to anyone but her birds, Tanya or Teddy; but I love her character growth throughout the book. I would love to read more stories from this world and from S.A. MacLean
Recommends this product
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Cozy Debut
I was looking forward to this when I requested my ARC and it really didn't disappoint. I think people are really missing out on this cozy little fantasy; it's criminally underrated if that's the kind of fantasy you like to read. This is about Aila, a zookeeper who has loved phoenixes her whole life and wants nothing more than to bring them back from being endangered by showing the world how wonderful they are. It very low stakes - Aila's an awkward character (has social anxiety to the extreme, lack of self-esteem) when we first meet her, gets put in charge of the breeding program at her zoo and, through this process, learns about herself and her capabilities and finds a family she didn't know was just waiting for her.. I could tell MacLean did a lot of research about breeding programs, both on the ground level but also in regard to the politics and business aspects of them and how they impact zoos. This is fantasy but you get a glimpse into real world zoos and how they have to operate to stay relevant and why they're necessary. The only reason I knocked off a star is that there is some repetitiveness - emphasizing Aila's anxiety over and over without any progress, her "hatred" of another character without any forward momentum toward a resolution. It just made the first part of the book drag just a tiny bit. However, the relationships between the human characters are wonderful and the animal depictions are a truly shining aspect (especially Archie). Thank you so much to Netgalley and Orbit for this advanced reader copy. I knew it before but this helped solidify that pretty much anything Orbit publishes, I will read and enjoy.
Recommends this product
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Adorable cozy zoo fantasy
I loved this book! It had me in a hold from the beginning and I couldn’t put it down! Aila was so endearing, awkward and dorky. I love the character arcs, the vast arrange of people represented in this book. Such an array of creatures, cost settings. Please give me more 😍
Recommends this product
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
It's a cute read
This book is a cozy fantasy with a small romance subplot. Our main character briefly dates a man before briefly starting a relationship with a woman. It's the general vibe of romance, but the story is primarily about the FMCs dreams and aspirations. This book felt very YA which is fine as I enjoy the genre, but I believe it was advertised as adult. I will say I was confused a bit about the nemesis aspect of this book. There was all this I don't like her vibes going on for something silly that happened back in college. The whole what happened vs the reaction didn't land with me. If you ever wanted to explore a book about a fantasy zoo, look no further!
Recommends this product
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Cute and fun!
Aila is living her childhood dream of taking care of an endangered and rare phoenix at a world renowned zoo. Awkward, anxious and introverted, her goal becomes to get the phoenix breeding program up and running again after 10 years. As other people have mentioned the overall plot was a tad predictable. This gave the book more time to explore their characters, it's always nice to have a neurodivergent protagonist and for the plot to be overall low stakes. Working in veterinary medicine myself, I enjoyed reading the description of the animals and the care and love the keepers all had for their charges. The animals in the zoo all day distinct personalities and were so much fun. The romance was a VERY slow burn enemies to friends to lovers. The beginning of the book took a bit to pick up but about 1/2 way though the story really found it's footing and I couldn't put it down. If you're looking for a fun, low stakes romance and love animals as much as Alia does, this is the book for you!
Recommends this product
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Fantastic debut
The Phoenix Keeper is a fantastic debut! I couldn’t put this story of a cozy magical zookeeper down! Aila is a devoted and loving zookeeper to a menagerie of mythical creatures. Aila’s dream is to restart the phoenix breeding program. To do so, she must work on her public speaking skills and form connections outside her comfort zone. When phoenix thieves strike at a nearby zoo, will Aila be able to start the new program and help save the phoenixes? Aila’s interactions with her animals and other zookeepers are charming. The animals were fascinating and I only wish I could visit the zoo! Aila struggles with social anxiety, but knows she must learn to advocate for her animals. I loved Aila’s enemies-to-friends-to-lovers storyline! There is excellent character growth and LGBTQ+ rep throughout. I enjoyed how MacLean emphasized the importance of conservation and protection for animals. Readers looking for cozy fantasy, magical creatures, and queer found-family will love this book! I can’t wait to see what S.A. MacLean writes next!
Recommends this product
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Zookeeper Romance
I had no clue I wanted to read a zookeeper romance, but it was exactly what I wanted. There is so much information about the animals, plus their personalities. It is easy to fall in love with the animals, but especially the birds. Aila has so much social anxiety to overcome, but in the process she finds people she can count on as well as those that challenge her. I was pretty sure of the bad guy early on and it made sense that Aila didn’t see it coming. I loved the way she was able to use her skills to keep all the animals safe. Overall it was wonderful to spend time at this special zoo.
Recommends this product
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com